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Cloud installed at the Hans W Klohn Commons

Cloud - a mural by local artist Deanna Musgrave - has been installed at the Hans W. Klohn Commons on our Saint John campus.

Commissioned by UNB’s Art for New Spaces Program the mural project began when a group of New Brunswick artists were invited to present their creative concepts for this unique space, Deanna Musgrave was the artist selected.

Robert MacKinnon, vice-president of UNBSaint John and member of the Art for New Spaces Committee, said that the piece needed to be prominent enough to stand out in the Hans W. Klohn Commons, given the unique architecture of this building.

The abstract mural consists of eight canvas panels depicting a cloud formation with thousands of details illustrating various aspects of knowledge, communication and technology.

“The inspiration for the cloud theme also came from spending time in the Commons,” says Musgrave. “Being in the space is akin to being surrounded by sky; it is heavenly.”

“The large rectangular windows frame a variety of moving cloudscapes for viewers to daydream into. Cloud echoes these. It is another window to create light and for viewers to lose themselves in.”

The work was commissioned by the Art for NewSpaces Committee, a group founded by former UNB president John McLaughlin in 2009, to bring more art to public spaces while growing UNB‘s art collection.

At the launch guests brought binoculars so they could take in the tiny details of the mural. This new piece of art in SaintJohn, which has taken about a year to complete, tells a story of accumulated knowledge, of the evolution of technology as information vessels, and of the power of communication.

A native of Sackville, now based in SaintJohn, Deanna Musgrave graduated from the Mount Allison Fine Arts program in2005. In 2007 she was selected for the Beaverbrook Art Gallery’s Studio Watch exhibition for promising new artists. Her work has been included in numerous solo and group shows in New Brunswick and Ontario. Most recently her work was included in “Off the Grid: Abstract Art in New Brunswick” at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery in 2014.

“The Saint John campus community is pleased to be the home of this impressive new mural,” said MacKinnon.

Cloud is the third work to be supported by the Art for New Spaces program.